Fall is in the Air

I really like fall colors and the changing season.  Here in Northern Colorado, we have officially entered into fall this week and I am loving the crisp air, and occasional sprinkling of rain.  This card is one of our class projects from last week's Stamping Class, "Fall into Stamping".  The maple leaf was especially fun to make and features the following steps to make this gorgeous leaf:

1.  Stamp Maple Leaf design with more mustard.  I used the Wonderfall stamp set. 
2.  Sponge the edges with Cajun Craze ink.  
3.  Next, the fun part:  Crumple up the leaf and 'stomp' (but not too hard or ink will go everywhere) with the Cajun Craze ink pad to create the leaf veins.
4. For a little glam and sparkle, sponge randomly with Champagne Shimmer Paint.   

And, because I always buy popcorn from the Boy Scouts each year and have about 50 unpopped popcorn bags hanging around, we made this matching fall gift.  Basically, a belly band is made from Early Espresso cardstock, layered with some Orchard Harvest DSP, and tied in a neat little bow with Island Indigo ribbon.  the colors Island Indigo, More Mustard, and Cajun Craze really do work well for fall and are different from the traditional fall color combinations.  And, the key to jazzing everything up is a little sparkle from the Champagne Glitter paper.